{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T17:03:04Z","timestamp":1782320584135,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":63,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782259200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":23,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2024YFF0507401"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024YFF0507401"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["82372885"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82372885"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Basic Science Center Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["T2288102"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["T2288102"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Immunother Cancer"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,5]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) frequently exhibits favorable responses to immunotherapy, despite a low tumor mutational burden, suggesting a critical role for non-mutational antigens presented by human leukocyte antigen class I in activating CD8\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      T cells.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To systematically identify non-canonical tumor-specific antigens, we developed an integrated proteogenomic approach to RCC samples by combining immunopeptidomics with exome and transcriptome sequencing. We subsequently primed and expanded antigen-reactive T cells in vitro, isolated a panel of antigen-specific T-cell receptors, and characterized their functionality. Finally, we investigated the tumor-killing and regression of non-canonical antigen-reactive T cells using patient-derived tumor-like cell clusters and mouse models.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We discovered a diverse repertoire of non-canonical tumor-specific antigens derived from human endogenous retroviruses (hERVs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), many of which were shared across patients. Single-cell RNA sequencing further revealed that T cells reactive to these antigens were enriched within exhausted subsets in the tumor microenvironment, indicative of persistent antigen-specific stimulation. Functionally, T cells engineered to recognize these non-canonical antigens mediated potent tumor cell killing both in vitro and in vivo. Our findings establish hERV-derived and lncRNA-derived antigens as key drivers of RCC immunogenicity and highlight their strong potential as targets for T-cell-based immunotherapy.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our work is the first to demonstrate that non-canonical antigens drive immunogenicity in low-mutation RCC, thereby resolving a key question in cancer immunology\u2014how tumors with low mutational burden can provoke robust T-cell responses.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/jitc-2026-015100","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T16:10:39Z","timestamp":1782317439000},"page":"e015100","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Targeting non-canonical antigens unlocks functional T-cell responses in renal 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